Can You Use a Mobility Scooter Safely?
Do you struggle to walk for long distances? Perhaps, you can navigate your home unassisted but taking a trip down the road is more of a challenge. If you can't cover longer distances on foot, you might ask someone to take you in a wheelchair, but it is far better to maintain your independence as much as possible.
One way of ensuring that you can still get around without outside help is to use a mobility scooter. Mobility scooters are electric vehicles that you can sit on and drive along pavements and even into some retail locations. Since most mobility scooters are fitted with a basket or storage space, you can go shopping and carry your purchases without a struggle. To decide whether a mobility scooter could be the right solution for your mobility problems, there are some things that you must consider.
Can you control a scooter?
If used incorrectly, mobility scooters can be dangerous. Before setting off on a scooter, you must be confident that you can control the scooter and that you will not be a danger to yourself or anyone you meet on your journey. Your eyesight must be good enough to see what is happening around you at all times, and you must be sufficiently alert to understand what you must do in response to what you see. Your reaction times must be fast enough to allow you to change direction or apply the brakes to the vehicle when you need to stop quickly. If you cannot safely control a scooter, do not buy one and place others at risk.
What type of scooter should you buy?
If you are satisfied that you can control a scooter, you must decide what scooter would be best. There is a wide range of mobility scooters available, and the differences are often about more than style or fashion. There are frequently good practical reasons to choose one type of scooter rather than another. Some of the chief concerns that you will want to address will focus on your safety. You will want to be confident that you can transfer on or off the scooter at any time that you need to do so. If you struggle to ease yourself onto the scooter seat, you may want to focus on mobility scooters that have swivel seats or include a movable steering column to provide more space for you to climb in and out.
Sometimes, getting on and off the scooter won't present a problem, but you may struggle to maintain a fixed posture for the length of the journey. If you have sitting problems, focus your search on mobility scooters with seats that can hold you in place, or that have an adjustable backrest to create a seat that is comfortable for you.